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4 - MEASUREMENT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Paul S. Gray ,
John B. Williamson ,
David A. Karp  and
John R. Dalphin
Paul S. Gray
Affiliation:
Boston College, Massachusetts
John B. Williamson
Affiliation:
Boston College, Massachusetts
David A. Karp
Affiliation:
Boston College, Massachusetts
John R. Dalphin
Affiliation:
Merrimack College, Massachusetts
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Thus far we have examined the essentials of the scientific method, research process, and design. Only one more bit of background remains – a look at the measuring tools we employ in social investigation. measurement, the process of determining dimension, value, or degree, is a critical component of research. We have to be thoughtful about the measures we use in all science.

To find the height of a man, the price of a piece of property, or the temperature outside on a winter day, we need measuring devices – yardsticks, calculators, thermometers – as well as units of measurement – inches, dollars, and degrees. Social scientists face many problems in selecting both the tools and the units of measurement. It is usually more difficult for us to agree about the dimensions, value, and degree of human behavior, attitudes, and ideas than about the physical description of people, the size of things, or the characteristics of the physical environment. However, it is essential that we try to perfect the tools and categories of measurement. If theories of human behavior are to be accepted as reasonable, and if we are to test these theories systematically, we must use measurement procedures that are clear and convincing.

There are many ways to gauge complex variables such as “violent crime,” “freedom,” “mental illness,” or “political popularity.” A craftsperson in the tool and die industry must often be accurate to one ten-thousandth of an inch in making the parts for a complex machine.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Research Imagination
An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
 , pp. 57 - 80
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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